The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for insulating interior walls of lamination slots of dynamo-electric components. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for forming inserts of insulating material and inserting them into the slots of a lamination core of an armature in dynamo-electric components.
Various machines for insulating dynamo-electric components are known in the art. However, such machines typically have a large number of moving mechanical parts and are generally difficult to lubricate and maintain. Insulation material can become contaminated by lubricating procedures on some insulating handling machines. Other machines have enclosed insulation handling mechanisms to minimize contamination of the insulation, but such enclosures generally impede lubrication of internal mechanisms. In addition, closed configurations are cumbersome for setting up machine insulation operations or troubleshooting mechanical problems. These difficulties increase the likelihood of breakdown and lead to unsatisfactory levels of accuracy, reliability, and productivity.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide methods and apparatus for inserting insulation into dynamo-electric machine components with a minimal number of mechanical parts and subsystems. It is also desirable to provide methods and apparatus for inserting insulation into dynamo-electric machine components that yield high accuracy and reliability. Additionally, it is desirable to provide methods and apparatus that perform insulation handling operations at high rates of speed, thereby increasing productivity. Furthermore, it is desirable to ease operator accessibility to the insulation handling mechanisms and to minimize the risk of lubrication contaminating the insulation material.
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for cutting a strip of insulating material into a segment of predetermined length, forming the segment into a predetermined shape correlated with the slot of the lamination core, and inserting the segment into a related slot of the lamination core. Illustrative features of some embodiments of the present invention are described, for example, in U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/248,255, filed Nov. 14, 2000, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,292, issued Nov. 7, 1989, currently U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 34,195, reissued Mar. 16, 1993 which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
The displacement and speed profiles of the operating members (e.g., a cutting member, a forming member, an inserting member, etc.) of the armature insulation machine may be controlled by a central drive mechanism. A centrally driven insulation insertion machine may have fewer moving parts, and thus may obtain higher accuracy and reliability of the cutting, forming, and inserting operations.
The central drive mechanism may include a rotatable shaft and several subsystems for transferring the shaft rotation into translations of the cutting, forming, and inserting members. The rate of the cutting, forming, and inserting may be related to the rate of rotation of the shaft. Increasing the rate of shaft rotation may increase the rate of insulation handling operations (e.g., cutting, forming, inserting, etc.) and thereby increase productivity. Each subsystem may include a plurality of cams that may rotate with the shaft. The plurality of cams may be coupled with one of the operating members so that the movements of the coupled operating member is controlled by the plurality of rotating cams. The cutting, forming, and inserting members may each be coupled to a respective subsystem.
The central drive mechanism may be enclosed to create a barrier between the drive mechanism and the insulation handling members (e.g., the cutting member, the forming member, the inserting member, etc.). This barrier may allow insulation to be handled externally (e.g., outside of the enclosure) and may prevent the insulation from being contaminated by lubricant for the drive mechanism. Furthermore, external insulation handling members may be more accessible to an operator than the internal handling members in some machines currently known in the art. Increased operator accessability may simplify procedures such as lubrication, startup, and shutdown.